Managing Finite Element Model Representations in an Assembly

When you create the FEM representation for an assembly by combining component FEM representations and meshes, you can manage the creation of component FEM representations.

You can work in the Contributing FEMs dialog box to assemble child FEM representations under the existing top-level FEM. You can add, remove, or replace subassembly FEMs or child part FEMs.

Before you begin:

Create a top-level FEM representation for the assembly.

See Also
Managing Shapes within a FEM Representation
About FEM Representations in an Assembly
  1. From the Setup section of the action bar, click Contributing Finite Element Models Manager .

    The Contributing FEMs dialog box appears, showing the product structure corresponding to the assembly of the current FEM representation.

    If the product is a multi-level assembly, the FEM column shows any child FEM representations already assigned to subassemblies and parts. In a newly created FEM or a FEM with no children, the FEM column is empty except for the top row.

  2. Optional: In the Product Structure column, click - and + or use the context menu options to collapse or expand the tree view of the root assembly and subassemblies.
  3. Create new FEM representations or assign existing FEM representations to any subassembly or part in the product structure. You can edit the product structure to add one or more child FEMs by:

    • Right-clicking in any cell of the FEM column and choosing Create a new FEM representation.

    • Right-clicking in the FEM column header and picking any of the context menu choices: Initialize from, Complete with, or Reset to initial contributing FEMs. See Context Menu and Filtering Options in the Contributing FEMs Dialog Box for descriptions of these commands.

    You can also access the Create a new FEM representation command interactively by right-clicking on any part in the model display.

  4. Click one of the following:
    • OK to update the assembly FEM representation and to close the dialog box.
    • Cancel to close the dialog box without applying the modifications.

    If the OK button is inactive, you have not made any changes that redefine the assembly FEM representation.

The selected options are applied to create and link FEM representations to the assembly.

Note: No meshes are generated unless you update the active FEM representation.